Wedgwood Queens Ware Franklin Bowl

A fine and unusual Wedgewood Queensware bowl made for Bailey, Banks & Biddle, the Philadelphia jeweler.

This bowl is actually a monteith, an unusual 18th century form used for rinsing or cooling wine glasses (the scalloped rim is designed to hold the foot of the glass when it's inverted into the bowl), and indeed, this shape was originally manufactured by Wedgwood in the Georgian period.

The decorative scheme is simple and honors the greatest and best-known of all Philadelphians: Benjamin Franklin. Printer, patriot, ambassador, scientist, inventor, and founder of a number of city institutions, Franklin was hugely influential in shaping the city of Philadelphia.

The decoration -designed by Wedgwood designer Alan Price- is quite simple: one side has a portrait of Franklin, the other side an image of the statue of Young Franklin by Robert Tait McKenzie. Inside the bowl is a view of the home American Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin in 1745.

An example of this bowl can be seen in the museum collection of the Philadelphia Masonic Lodge.

The bowl is 13" long, 8" wide and 6" tall.

Condition: as new, no wear or damage.

Mark: Impressed Wedgwood mark, dated 1960. Black printed mark giving the name of the piece and the retailer for whom it was made